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Thursday, May 31, 2012

As you can see from the title of this post I have a big "FIVE OH" card made for you this week. I designed it in the form of a gate fold card, which by the way is my very first one ever.

This week over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge our theme is,

"Anything Goes - A Gate Fold"

I'll bet you are wondering who is actually having the milestone birthday, well it's not me....been there done that is all I am going to say.

It is my little baby brother Randy...ha ha, not so much a baby anymore now is he, LOL.

Well Randy, welcome to the "Fifty Something" club, it's nice to have the pleasure of your company, what took you so long?

Happy Birthday Baby Brother

I Love you very much, and in honour of your 50TH birthday I made you a little card. After-all, your kids get them all the time, why shouldn't you.

But, it is a very very special card and you better be careful opening it....

because....

Hot Fuzz just wants to let you know that being this sexy at 50 should be illegal!

Hot Fuzz is none other than a Kenny K digital image. I picked her because Randy was a major player when I was training to become a Police Officer.

He use to let me pick him up and drag him down my apartment hallway when I was training for my big physical test, as one of the tasks I had to be able to do was lift 180 lbs and drag it 30 feet in 30 seconds, backwards. Once I was hired he still helped my out and would let me practice my self- defense skills on him. There was even a point in time when he would disappear if he saw me coming, lol. Talk about a great brother, so this card is a wee bit of an inside joke.

Thanks Randy for all you have done, all that you are and all that you continue to be for me.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Just joking with ya'll...this week over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday we're having

an "Anything Goes with a Sports Theme" challenge, and I'm highlighting the Martial Art and Sport of Karate.

What I love most about Karate is that it teaches young people so many important qualities that they will hopefully carry with them throughout their lifetime.

Karate teaches discipline, confidence, self-expression, just to name a few, and in my humble opinion these are among the most important attributes or traits a person can have.

You also have the added bonus of learning the art of self-defense, and it teaches self control/meditation/relaxation techniques at the same time. Now that sounds like a pretty well rounded sport to me.

So in honor of the martial art sport of Karate, I used this cute little Mo Manning digital image, that I call the Karate Kid.

I printed this little fella on Neenah card stock and then coloured him with my Copic markers. Needless to say there wasn't a lot of colouring involved given that it's basically black and white. I chose a yellow belt for my Karate kid because that seemed to be an appropriate level for a young boy.

I also tried to keep the design simple and masculine.

The DP's I used are a combination of DCWV's Neutral mat stack and Recollections Elegance collection. I coloured the ribbon with one of the Y markers that I used in his belt.

I enlisted the help of my dear friend Jackie's daughter Nina to help me with the lingo. She told me that the word "Kiai" was what you usually shout when you are required to focus your energy towards any movements.

I found the other two online that I thought were kind of cute.

Oh and just so you know, this post was automatically scheduled today because I am taking some much needed R & R with my wonderful husband. The next challenge post date will be as well, therefore I won't be able to respond to any of those wonderful comments you take the time to leave me until I am back in the game.

I didn't want to leave you without any inspiration, but don't stop here, head over to the challenge and/or my fab DT members personal blogs.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

It was a rainy day....well apparently it is over at the Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge. So grab your umbrellas, rubber boots or what have you's and get on over there to show us how YOU handle a rainy day.

A funny thing though, as I am typing this out to you it has just started to rain here, and I can hear the distant rumblings of an approaching thunderstorm. Talk about weird or what?

Anyhow, on to the challenge....for my interpretation of a rainy day I used this cute Stamping Bella stamp by Mo Manning called, Umbrella Peep. I bought this stamp when I was at ScrapFest in Kitchener last year. It wasn't just because the image is so darn cute, but because the wording of the sentiment that came with it.

Isn't that just the most optimistic attitude to have in life? I certainly think so, and I will forever try my darnedest to always see life that way.

So, in keeping with that mindset I decided to use bright colours instead of the more traditional dark colours we always seem to see when it comes to rain gear.

Heck, it's certainly one way to brighten up an otherwise gloomy day, don't ya think?

I stamped the image onto Neenah card-stock using Memento black ink, and then I coloured it using my Copic markers. I painted a little bit of Smooch Glitz onto the top of the umbrella in an attempt to make it glisten as if it were wet. I also drew in a couple of rain drops for added effect, then I used a wee bit of Glossy Accents on the raindrops, little peeps rain gear and the umbrella handle as well.

I noticed after I cropped the below picture that I've either coloured outside the line on her hat or perhaps the Glossy Assent pushed it out.

Oh well, nobody is perfect are they?

The DP's are a combo of SU, DCWV Citrus Collection and then just some regular cardstock.

I embossed the green square to stay within the dotted theme by using my SU dots embossing folder. The sentiment was stamped with Color Box "Merlot" pigment ink, and then I added clear embossing powder to enhance it. A few brads, viva decor pearls, a little ribbon and a bow and "wallah", there you have it, the bright side of a rainy day.

So get yourselves over to this weeks Twisted Thursday challenge and show us YOUR rainy day creation. If you don't have the time to make a card this week, or aren't a member of the Outlawz you can always drop by my fellow DT members personal blogs to have a peek at their creations. Perhaps you could leave them a comment because I know how much they are appreciated!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hello there crafty peeps, I would like you to meet Violet. Well actually, her name is really Cupcake Princess Violet. Isn't she a riot?

She is a Mo Manning digital image, and I bought her because my Mother's name is Violet!

Now by no stretch of the imagination does my Mom look anything like, nor closely resemble this little character in any way shape or form.

That is the main reason I just had to have her, but I also wanted her because she is just so darn funny looking and cute at the same time.

Can you imagine having hair like that?

Talk about a bad hair day, yikes!

My Dad asked if I could make a card for him to give to my Mom on her birthday. Her birthday is today, but we will be celebrating it along with Mother's Day on Sunday. Kind of a two for one deal. Don't worry, she doesn't get ripped off. On the contrary she actually benefits big time.

I printed Violet out on Neenah card-stock and then coloured her with my Copic markers.

Now as you know it's Thursday, and with that comes yet again another Twisted Thursday challenge over at the Outlawz.

This week we're playing a "BINGO" game as our challenge theme, and it's the first one I have ever participated in.

The line I chose from the bingo card, which you will find displayed over on the challenge page included punches/die cuts, ribbon and flowers.

The die cuts that I used are from both Spellbinders and Memory Box. The punch I used was from MS and used it to make the flowers. I coloured the ribbon with one of the Copic colours that I had used in Violet's dress.

Even though bling wasn't required you all know me, I've got to have it whenever I can. However, I tried something different in that I used it within the background instead of the actual image.

Well peeps, I found our little BINGO game/ challenge to be a lot of fun. So head on over to the Twisted Thursday challenge and join us in the fun. If you can't perhaps you can stop by the personal blogs of my fab fellow design team members, Anne, Sharri, Patricia, Melissa, Kym and our special guest Marie to see their bingo creations. Maybe while you're there you could leave them some love, I know they appreciate it.

I hope you join us this week, I am looking forward to seeing your creations too.

I find them to be so beautiful and graceful. I just had to have them because I didn't have anything in my collection that was grown up if you will.

Everything I own seems to be either cute, adorable, whimsical, or wacky and that is not how I see my mother.

My mother is one of the kindest, most gentlest souls I know and she has taught me a lot in my lifetime. This image truly reflects how I feel about the wonderful woman who gave me life, and I count my blessing everyday that I still have her to talk to.

I coloured the image with my Copic markers, and used a cream Viva Decor Pearl Pen to add tiny pearls to her awesome hair. I also added them to the centers of the flowers that I made using a MS punch. The DP are from DCWV's The Far East mat stack. Next I coloured a pearl stick pin with my Copic markers for that finishing touch.

I know there is a Mother's Day challenge going on over at Through the Classroom Door, so I think I will enter it there as well as the following:

On behalf of all the gals over at the Twisted Thursday challenge group, I would like to wish you and yours a blessed Mother's Day.

If you have the time please drop by their personal blogs to show them some love or better still, join us for our Mother's Day challenge over at the Outlawz. Let's see what your artistic interpretation is!

Guest Designer

I'm a winner

About Me

In 2000 I was stricken with a life altering illness that ended my professional career in law enforcement. You think your life is going according to plan, and then one day you wake up and it all changes. I have many physical disabilities that rob me of my independence. After overcoming many hurdles there came the day when I desperately needed to find something meaningful to do with my time. It had to be constructive, challenging, and had to keep my brain active. I tried so many different things that just didn’t light that spark, so I kept trying new things and so on. One day I found myself dabbling in the paper crafting world where I developed a passion for Copic Marker colouring, and guess what, I found that spark. Now I have a new passion, a new direction wherein that I want to learn more and more.
If somebody had of told me that I would eventually create a blog and display my artistic abilities within it I would have told them they were off their rocker! However, I didn't get here alone; together with the love of a wonderful man, a truly amazing family, my masterful friend Sean, and along with some awesome and wacky women friends, I was able to get it together.